Skywatch Number 67 (New Series) : Two Eyes

Skywatch Number 67 (New Series) : Two Eyes

Amateur Astronomy WITH AN ATTITUDE from Chaos Manor South! Rod Mollise’s March-April 2003 Volume 12, Issue 2 “A Newsletter for the Truly Outbound!” Skywatch Number 67 (New Series) : two eyes. Only when it’s time to look <[email protected]> through a telescope do we squint Great, Huge one closed and look at the universe Inside this Issue: through a single peeper. This is SUPERSIZED uncomfortable, and, since our brain is used to getting the input from two eyes, we lose detail. A binoviewer is How I Learned to Stop Issue! the supposed cure. It’s a device that Worrying and Love uses prisms to take the light coming 1 Binoviewers! from your lenses and mirrors, split it, and direct the image into two Lucy Looks Skyward! How I learned to eyepieces. Put one of these on your 2 scope and you can view the Stop Worrying wonders of the heavens through two The EyeOpener! eyes as nature intended. 3 and Love Too bad this idea didn’t seem to MX7C Conversion! work well—at least not for me. Many 4 Binoviewers were the times I’d been offered the Confessions of an Astromart chance to use a binoviewer, given it Junkie! a try, and come away shaking my Denkmeier Optical, Inc. 5 head at the idea anybody could like 100 Pinehurst Road one of these things. Didn’t seem to Berlin, MD 21811 Lunar Software! matter which brand I tried, either, Information:(410)208-6014 Toll-Free 6 including expensive TeleVues and Order Line: (866)340-4578 AP branded units. I just couldn’t 7 Space Place! http://deepskybinoviewer.com/ seem to get one to work for me. I’d look strain, adjust the interocular don’t make any secret of how distance (you can adjust the My Back Pages! much I love astro-gear. separation between a binoviewer’s 78 Anything—telescopes, eyepieces, I eyepieces just as you can with a charts, computer programs, packs pair of binoculars), focus, squint, of lens tissue. I don’t care. But there was one piece of amateur astronomy equipment that I just hadn’t been able to stomach: binoviewers. If you spend any time at star parties, you’ve seen binoviewers. They Skywatch are those binocular 1207 Selma Street viewing attachments Mobile, AL 36604 you’ll often find U.S.A. mounted in the focusers of big dobs or monster SCTs. In theory, it’s a good idea. We normally view our world through . strain some more and always wind impressed by the design of the unit. backyard, and got Saturn in the field up with two separate images. I In order to attach the focus tube to of view. I inserted the Denkmeier couldn’t get my eyes and brain to the binoviewer, TeleVue uses a into my 2” diagonal and popped in merge the pictures into one. And system of fussy adapter rings. two eyepieces (the only identical based on the comments of other These can be a real hassle if you oculars I could find were two 25mm folks who’ve used binoviewers, this have to remove them, as Pat Kellners of dubious heritage). OK, problem, while not common, ain’t Rochford and I discovered one let’s get this over with. I put my eyes exactly unheard of, either. After a evening when we unscrewed the to the eyepieces, focused and… while, I learned just to take a quick adapters from his TV, got ‘em back Yep. Two Saturns. I could feel a look through a BV when offered, on wrong, and basically ruined ‘em headache comin’ on already. I mutter something like, “cool!” or to the tune of 60 bucks (we adjusted the interocular spacing a “nice!” and head back to my single- threaded one ring into the wrong bit (the Denkmeier “folds” in the eyepiece scope as soon as politely part and couldn’t remove it). In middle like a pair of binoculars), possible. contrast, 1.25” and 2” focus tubes focused the big SCT a little and. thread right onto the body of the ALL OF A SUDDEN I WAS SEEING And there things stood for quite a Denkmeier binoviewer, with no ONE, BEAUTIFUL IMAGE! while. I didn’t bother binoviewers, adapters required. There’s plenty of and they didn’t bother me. Until one room in the carrying case for I could hardly believe it! After about day when I got an email from the binoviewer, StarSweeper, focus 5 minutes of use, I even found that I good folks at Denkmeier Optical. tubes and more. This foam-padded couldn’t force myself into seeing two Seems as how they’d heard some case appears to be designed to hold separate images. What a revelation. comments about my problems with a pistol (the eagle embossed on the Why was it so easy with the binoviewing, and wanted me to give case cover makes its sporting goods Denkmeier when I’d had such a one of their “Deep Sky Binoviewers” heritage clear), but it’s a nice touch hard time with other binoviewers? a try. I was a little hesitant. Like I and works great. Maybe because I was able to relax said, I like gear, and being able to and use the BV on my own scope, a give new stuff a try is one of my Was there anything I didn’t like right comfortable SCT rather than a favorite pastimes. But I really wasn’t off the bat? The friction fit eyepiece ladder-equipped dobsonian. But I sure I wanted to bother with tubes. Rather than locks of some don’t think that’s the whole story. I something I knew I wouldn’t like. kind to hold your eyepieces in place, didn’t have any trouble when I tried But, in the end, I just couldn’t resist. the Standard Denkmeier uses the Denkmeier in Pat Rochford’s big I told Russ at Denkmeier to send friction fit tubes that hold both Dobsonian either. Talking to the one on, but not to be disappointed if eyepieces in place with the aid of O folks at Denkmeier, they stated that I hated the Denkmeier as much as I rings. I like my eyepieces to be they take special pains in the design did the rest of the pack. Russ was secure and tight, so I wasn’t overly and alignment of their units to unphased, and pretty much told me happy with this arrangement. It did preclude problems with image that he guaranteed I’d like his baby. seem to work OK, however. The merging. I guess I’ll have o believe Yeah. Right. eyepieces didn’t fall out and I was ‘em, since their binoviewer worked able to slide both in and out of the so well for me! Before I knew it, there was a sizable tubes for differential focus and they box sitting on the dining room table. stayed put. But it still seemed a less But beyond being able to merge Opening this parcel revealed a well- than ideal situration. This is actually images, what did I think? While the packed black-plastic carrying case a non-issue now, as Russ informed Denkmeier is billed as the “Deep containing the Standard Denkmeier me shortly after I received the eval Sky Binoviewer,” it was doing one Binoviewer ($599.00), the unit that all future Standard and heck of a job on Saturn. I’m not sure StarSweeper focal reducer for SCTs Premium Denkmeier BVs would I could see more with the two cheap ($149.00), and all necessary tubes indeed include locking, self- Kellners than I could when I and adapters to allow use of the centering eyepiece holders. switched in my single 22mm binoviewer in 1.25” or 2” focusers Panoptic. But I could easily see as (you’ll need a 2” setup for your SCT Looked nice. Yeah. But I doubted much and without as much effort. in order to use the StarSweeper). I that I’d be able to use this thing, so, And there was the added bonus of was immediately impressed by the so what? A glance out one of Chaos the binoviewer’s pseudo 3-D effect. quality of the Denkmeier’s Manor South’s kitchen revealed that When using this or any binoviewer, construction. It seemed even more the coming evening would be clear, there’s not nearly enough solid than the (more expensive) something that’s been rare this separation between your eyes when TeleVue, which has formerly been Winter, though, so I decided to give viewing a distant object like a planet something of a benchmark in the the blasted thing a try. I grabbed the to produce a real 3-D effect. But world of BVs. I was further binoviewer, set the C11 up in the 2 . Skywatch your brain doesn’t believe this. It’s the help of my buddy, Pat Rochford. binoviewer and OCS. We were very seeing through two eyes, so there Pat, as mentioned earlier, is a curious to see what the effect would must be depth. The way my brain Binoviewer user and is set up with a be on field-edge quality in this fast perceived things, Saturn was in the full range of eyepiece focal lengths. scope. After a little fumbling around midground, Titan was in the When the bubbas at Denkmeier to get the OCS adjusted to the point background, and a couple of the heard that I was takin’ their baby where the scope would come to other little moons were in the over to Pat’s to try under his fairly focus (the OCS barrel is adjustable foreground.

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